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Over the past decade there has been a surge in interest in multimodality with its associated innovative approaches to analyzing communication. This interest has come from across a range of disciplines, in educational studies, business studies, media and cultural studies, etc, and especially from within linguistics. Much of this work has reflected the research interests and procedures of those fields. However, considering that the work of some of the pioneers in multimodality is in the first place critical it is of note that the majority of work labelling itself multimodal is not. Much of it is highly descriptive of visual communication and often having as its primary aim to show how it is much like language and can be best analyzed using linguistic terminology.

The proposed special edition would invite authors to analyze the multimodal realisation of discourses from a critical point of view. Authors would be invited to consider the way that images, drawings, sounds, architecture, sculpture, gesture, artifacts, fashion, textures, etc, can be exploited in the interests of institutions and ideologies. Just as language based critical analysis seeks to reveal not just what texts communicate ideologically but how they accomplish this in a way not necessarily immediately obvious to the casual reader so authors would be asked to show how multimodal discourse analysis can do the same as regards other forms of communication.

Papers will include systematic analysis of relevant examples. A consideration of the way that different semiotic modes combine is encouraged as are papers which place discourses in historical context.

Themes could include but are not restricted to:

Political use of images Branding Sculpture Sound Postures Movement School books Video games Art Architecture Public Space

Deadlines:

Submission of abstract: July 1, 2012 Submission of manuscript: December 1, 2012

Contacts:

Inquiries specifically about the theme of this special issue can be directed to the guest editor: portvale100 [at sign] gmail [dot] com

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